Jagged Edges
by honorarytitans-go
Summary: Noah is new to the group, and Carl isn't the warmest of the bunch. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Rick held up a hand behind himself, signaling for the party behind him to remain still and quiet. The small group of eight was crouching, leavening their backs against a two story modern home that looked generally abandoned, which meant dangerous. Rick stuck his head around the house to check if the coast was clear around the front porch, which was futile. If anything living or not was on the front porch, it would have noticed or heard the huge fire truck approaching and the police patrol car following close behind it. The group was to check out every room of the home, and the surrounding perimeter for trap doors or doors to basements. The group consisted of Glenn, Michonne, Rick, Daryl, Tyreese, Abraham, Rosita, and Carol. Rick made a simple wave with his hands, and he, Michonne, Daryl, Glenn, and Carol proceeded to the front porch, while the other three remained outside to keep watch and scan the perimeter.

Rick stood on the front porch in front of the front door, and tested to see if it was locked. It was. Carol stepped forward silently and Rick held up three fingers, counting down. Three…two….one..Carol lifted her foot and kicked out at the locked door, causing the frame to crack and splinter, making the door swing in violently. As soon as the door swung open, Carol's gun was up, her wrists crossed to hold up her solar powered flashlight also. After scanning the immediate area, Carol put her pistol back in its holster. "Living rooms clear." The woman said, and the rest of the smaller party followed her in, breaking off to search different areas.

xxx

A half mile away from the house, Carl leaned against the patrol car, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched his father and the others walk into the home. While they were checking out the possible temporary shelter, Carl was punished to babysit, literally. His father had left him to watch Judith, who he had simply put in the passenger seat and let her play around with the keys, and then he had locked the doors to make sure she didn't accidentally climb out or anything. Tara was in the fire truck with Maggie, trying to talk her out of the dark depression she had slipped into after Beth's death. It had hit everyone pretty hard, especially her and Daryl, but Maggie was the only one who didn't seem to be getting any better. Sasha was on top of the fire truck with a hunting rifle, cleaning it to occupy her time. As for the new recruit, Noah, he was taking a nap on the roof, hugging the ax from the fire truck he had decided to arm himself with instead of a gun.

"No need to pout dude, they had enough people already anyway." Noah said, hopping off the top of the patrol care, subsequently causing it to shake.

Carl turned away from the older boy, not replying to his prodding. Sure, he knew that his dad, Michone, and Daryl were enough on their own, let alone everyone else, but that didn't stop him from feeling like his dad didn't trust him enough to follow him inside. After all this time, Rick was still treating Carl like his perfect little boy that he had to protect.

Carl took in a deep breath, and then let it out in an angsty sigh as Noah sat Indian style next to him, laying his ax across his lap. Noah looked up at Carl, who was making a point at not looking down at him.

"So how old are you anyway? Like, ten? Five?"

Carl finally looked down at Noah, giving him a scrutinizing look. "What do you want?"

Noah shrugged, "Im just trying to fill this awkward silence with conversation."

"Yeah, well stop."

At that, Noah did stop talking. The darker of the two boys stood up and proceeded to swing his ax at the air, as if he was attacking a group of walkers. His down swipe was shaky and the ax fell from his hands and clattered to the ground, almost taking half of his foot with it. The ax stopped right next to Carl.

Carl scoffed, "Smart move, Samurai Jackass. Remind me to stay away from you if we got attacked." Carl went to bend down to pick the ax up and then handed it to Noah. "Why did you choose that thing anyway? We have more guns, and you're not strong enough to do anything with it. Best case scenario, you swing and it gets lodged in a walkers head, and then you're dead."

Noah looked down at his choice of weapon and shrugged, "'I've never been a big fan of guns, and plus, you have to admit that this thing is cool." The corner of Noah's mouth turned up ever so slightly, forming a smirk.

"Whatever" Carl replied with indifference, proceeding to ignore the other guy again.

Noah looked Carl up and down, and pressed his lips into a small line. "You don't like me very much, do you?"

To this, Carl simply shrugged as if he wasn't listening anyway, but he was. Noah wasn't too off with this assumption; it wasn't that Carl didn't like him, it was more so that Carl hated him being here. He was one more person for the group to take care of, one more liability, one more death to cry over when he dies just like that damn

Carls thoughts were interrupted with a shrill noise blasting from behind him like the sound of a thousand dying cats. Carl and Noah both shot their hands up to cover their ears; Noah dropping the ax, and then turned to the car to see what the problem was.

Judith had turned on the siren, and it was blasting for everyone in a thousand mile radius to hear.

Carl lunged for the passenger door, but found it locked. He then started feeling around his more than worn jeans for the keys, when the realization dawned upon him. "Shit Shit Shit" The young boy muttered.

Noah walked up behind Carl, having to scream loudly to be heard over the blasting siren, his face lighting up blue and red with the flashing of the lights. "DUDE OPEN THE DOOR!"

"ITS LOCKED!"

"THEN USE THE KEYS!"

"I CANT!"

"WHY NOT?"

"BECAUSE JUDITH HAS THEM!"

Noah didn't reply then, but looked at Carl with a look of horror mixed with amusement. Carls face with simply sheer horror. This would surely attract walkers, and this is another thing for his dad to hate him for

…..great.

Reviews are much appreciated, first attempt at writing in a while v.v


	2. Chapter 2

The siren of the patrol car continued to blare, emitting a noise that was both rhythmic and ear splitting. Carl and Noah stood outside of the vehicle, guarding their ears with their hands and searching for a solution.

Noah picked his ax up again, screaming over the shrill noise of the siren, "I GOT AN IDEA" he yelled, drawing Carl's attention

Carl turned to his darker companion in time enough to see him attack the backseat window of the patrol car with his ax, striking it multiple times and only succeeding in leaving scratches. Nevertheless, Noah continued his assault, sweat collecting around his temples from the effort. Carl released a dramatic sigh that was lost in the noise, and decided to end this pathetic display of masculinity.

"IT'S BULLETPROOF, GENIUS"

Noah finally stopped his assault, panting from the attempt, staring at the minimal amount of damage he had done to the glass. "WELL THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE TO KNOW BEFORE."

"YEAH WELL, I HAVE A BETTER IDEA" Carl reached to his waist and pulled the pistol he always carried from its holster, aiming it at the driver's seat window. Fully prepared to fire, Carl released a surprised yelp when he felt Noah slap his hands down.

"STOP! YOU MIGHT HIT JUDITH OR GET GLASS ON HER, SHOOT THE BACK"

Carl was fully ready to give a smart reply, when there was a sound of concussive force that made the siren sound like a cats purr, then the sound of shattering glass. Within a second of said sound, the siren was off, and Carl hung his head, because he knew what was coming next.

"Carl! What the _hell_ did you think you were doing?!" Rick asked, appearing from the back of the patrol car with Judith in his arms, the rest of the group behind him. When the teenage boy looked up at the menacing glare of his father, he was also met with an equal furious one from Michonne and Carol. One could assume there would be a dirty look coming from the man carrying a crossbow if he hadn't turned to retrieve the other half of the group from around the home.

Noah stood with his back to the adults who had just practically saved the day and as he looked at the distraught yet hardened face of Carl in front of him, he knew that the one from his dad couldn't be any better. Noah could practically _feel_ the heat of their collective glares on his back, and kept his head down as he turned to face the others, standing next to Carl.

Rick stared his son down, his jaw in a permanent clench. "I asked you a question, boy, what did you think you were doing? Do you realize how _dangerous_ all this noise is? And then you went and left Judith in the car by herself with the keys, so what, you can play grab ass with this kid?!" The sheriff asked, gesturing to Noah. There was a brief moment of silence before Rick continued. "You know, sometimes I question if you even have a brain in that head of yours."

Michonne reached out to touch Ricks arm lightly, but he shouldered her off

"Dad I…" Carl began, but was cut off by the Noah's voice, who had finally decided to stop staring at his own dirty sneakers.

"It was all my fault sir, Carl had went to use the bathroom, and I've never been good with babies, so I thought it was best to just leave her in the car, sir. I'm sorry…..sir"

Rick, with a look of surprise, was silent for a moment. He stared at the boy with curiosity, and then turned back towards his son to see that he was doing the same, and he was not fooled at all.

"If we have learned anything is that sacrificing yourself for someone else isn't going to get you anything but a set of incisors in the shoulder." Rick said to the older of the boys, and then addressed Carl. "And you were just going to let him take the fire for you, weren't you?"

Before Carl could utter a reply, the sound of Daryl's voice came from the home and he was running.

"Time to go, we've got walkers."

Rick grumbled and with Judith in his arms, proceeded to walk towards the fire truck. "Carl and Noah, you're in the car with Tara, Glen, and Maggie."

"DAD!" Carl began, objecting and his voice cracked a little.

Rick handed the child to Michonne before turning back to his son, "We don't have time for this Carl now get in the car now!"

Carl hung his head lower, and without a further word, headed to the patrol car with Noah. While Carl rode in the back with Noah and Tara, Glen drove with Maggie in the passenger seat. Rick, Michonne, Tyreese, and Sasha rode in the front of the fire truck, and Daryl had found a pair of twin motorcycles back in the city. Obviously, Daryl took one for himself, but it was Abraham who had decided to take the others, much to Daryl's complaint about him stealing his style. Carol rode on the back of Daryl's bike while Sasha rode on the back of Abrahams.

As the group drove away from the failed attempt at a temporary, sanctuary, Carl stared out of the window, expression blank. He stared at the green of the bare planes that laid between country home and country home, at the thick tries that made of the small forestry. He allowed his mind to equal his expression, distancing himself from his feelings, from those around him, from himself.

xxx

Night had befallen the small group and the sound of chirping crickets filled all of their ears. A gentle breeze picked up, blowing loose and dead leaves off of the branches of the surrounding trees. In the midst of this silent and peaceful night lay a group of fighters, a group of people surviving against a world that was all but peaceful.

Around a crackling campfire sat Rick Grimes, a bottle of vodka lying next to his sitting form. The gruff looking sheriff stared blankly at the dancing colors of the flame, lost in deep thought and fascinated by the primal nature of the heat source. The sound of dead leaves being stepped on drew Rick from his solitary thought, and caused him to turn around to see who was approaching.

"What is it Michonne, I have about one more hour before you switch out for watch." Rick muttered, turning back to the flame and taking a swig from the half empty bottle of alcohol.

Michonne sat silently next to Rick; sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them.

After a brief moment of silence, Rick finally spoke, "I guess it would be too much to hope that you are just here because you had a bad dream?"

Michonne rolled her eyes, a grin appearing on her lips and she kicked his booted foot with her own.

Ricked laughed as quietly as he could, but with true joy, and wiped the liquid from his mouth. "Guess not"

"You were too hard on him today Rick, it was an accident."

Ricks smile disappeared from his face, and his stare returned back to the flame. "Yea, a mistake that could have got us all killed, Michonne. You're friends with him, good; he needs one, but leave it to me to be his father."

Michonne sat in silence for a while, "You know he is just trying to be like you, right? At least how he thinks you are; jaded, hard, and cold, completely ready for the world to turn and stab him in the back at all times."

Rick drank from his bottle again and scoffed, "yea is that so bad?"

"He is high strung and sleeps with one eye open."

"And again, is that so bad in this world? Look what we have been through Michonne, he is being smart!"

"Then how about when Judith is five I teach her how to slit a throat."

"No! She is too young for that."

"And Carl isn't?"

At this, Rick was silent, and Michonne didn't prod any further. Rick drank from his bottle once more, and turned to the woman next to him. "Mish" He began, reaching over to her and stroking her cheek. Michonne closed her eyes, clenched her jaw, and tightened her grip on her knees as Rick did so.

When Rick went to stroke again, Michonne grabbed his wrist and stopped him.

"Rick, you're drunk." She said frankly.

"Tell me something I don't know." Rick said with a chuckle.

Michonne looked at him in disgust before standing and beginning to walk back to her sleeping area in the little camp site the group made.

Rick laughed once more before going back in on the vodka, "See ya in an hour."

xxx

A short distance from where Rick sat around the fire, Carl lay in a sleeping bag next to Glenn, Noah, and Daryl, staring up at the starry night sky.

"You know, before all of this, I was never able to see the night sky properly. " Noah said from next to the teen, to Carl's surprise. He had thought Noah was asleep. Carl groaned, and didn't issue a reply.

"Yeah, the city was always too bright; too bright to see half the stars that riddled space. If we can say anything good about what happened, it's that it made nature more beautiful." Noah said, looking over at the quiet Carl. "Hey, um, what happened early was pretty tough, I'm sorry about that."

Carl sat there thinking, and finally turned to face Noah, "Why did you do that earlier? Take up for me?"

Even in the dark of nice, Carl could see the white of Noah's teeth when he smiled, "Eh, I'm used to taking the heat for others, no need for a thank you." Noah said smugly.

Carl turned away from Noah once more, "Good, because you weren't going to get one."

Noah furrowed his brow, slightly offended, "You know what, I take it back, a thank you is much needed. For all you know, your dad could have taken my head off back there, or fed me to the Lurkers for endangering his kid."

"Yeah well I didn't ask you to do it," Carl replied, "And look how it went; I don't see my dad apologizing any time soon."

Noah sat up quickly, "You know what, I've been nothing but nice to you and have been trying to talk to you ever since I joined you guys and all you've been is an ass to me. What? Do you not like black people or something?" Noah asked jokingly, but wouldn't be surprised if the teen said yes.

Carl replied with an amused laugh, "Have you met Michonne? Tyreese or Sasha?" Carl asked once he had calmed down from his laughing. "Have you thought that maybe it's just you I don't like?"

((Reviews?))


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